Good tent for 3rd season elk CO

[lifesupport4u]

As far as camping next to the truck a Davis tent with a cylinder stove is hard to beat for comfort and warmth.

I have spent several seasons in a wall tent and only had a little bit of condensation one night.

A full size cot, pad and a heavy bag is also extremely comfortable.

I have set it up and taken it down by myself without any trouble.

You can sleep and cook in there comfortably.

I have taken mine in for repairs a few times- which is nice if your local. Not sure who would do repairs on the Cabelas tents but I suppose you could find someone.

The only disadvantage I see is they are bulky and heavy to pack and store. And not sure what not breaking the bank is to you. I would guess my whole setup for a 14x16 tent was $1,000-1100. I picked the cylinder stove up on Craigslist. One of the guys I have hunted with has had his tent for over 20 years. Mine is 5 years old now and has been used 1-3 seasons per year and is still in great shape.

 

[JohnBud]

As far as camping next to the truck a Davis tent with a cylinder stove is hard to beat for comfort and warmth.

I have spent several seasons in a wall tent and only had a little bit of condensation one night.

A full size cot, pad and a heavy bag is also extremely comfortable.

I have set it up and taken it down by myself without any trouble.

You can sleep and cook in there comfortably.

I have taken mine in for repairs a few times- which is nice if your local. Not sure who would do repairs on the Cabelas tents but I suppose you could find someone.

The only disadvantage I see is they are bulky and heavy to pack and store. And not sure what not breaking the bank is to you. I would guess my whole setup for a 14x16 tent was $1,000-1100. I picked the cylinder stove up on Craigslist. One of the guys I have hunted with has had his tent for over 20 years. Mine is 5 years old now and has been used 1-3 seasons per year and is still in great shape.

This is very helpful information. I am also planning to buy a Davis tent for the 2022 season and I usually hunt solo. Camping next to the truck, my concern is setting up the tent by myself. Traditional poles or internal frame? Solo setup 10 by 12 vs 12 by 14? Your thoughts?

 

[lifesupport4u]

This is very helpful information. I am also planning to buy a Davis tent for the 2022 season and I usually hunt solo. Camping next to the truck, my concern is setting up the tent by myself. Traditional poles or internal frame? Solo setup 10 by 12 vs 12 by 14? Your thoughts?

I have an internal frame 14x16. It’s comfortable for 2-3 people and a small cook table with the cylinder stove.

I have set it up and taken it down by myself as I stated. It takes a little longer than a traditional tent to do solo but no reason it can’t be done.

 

[PAGOAT]

I have the Kodiak flex bow and have had it in some pretty bad weather that it held up to great. I like to use a big buddy heater with the 20lb bottle outside. I think a 6' hose between them, I've been down into the single digits and it was comfortable. When my friend goes with me we take his Davis wall tent with a gravity fed pellet stove. Now this thing is the way to go and honestly in the pile of stuff we take with us 6 bags of pellets or so isn't a big deal. It burns all night and we're not looking for dry wood to cut.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I have the Kodiak flex bow and have had it in some pretty bad weather that it held up to great. I like to use a big buddy heater with the 20lb bottle outside. I think a 6' hose between them, I've been down into the single digits and it was comfortable. When my friend goes with me we take his Davis wall tent with a gravity fed pellet stove. Now this thing is the way to go and honestly in the pile of stuff we take with us 6 bags of pellets or so isn't a big deal. It burns all night and we're not looking for dry wood to cut.

The pellet stove direction sounds very convenient.

I have a big wood stove and a buddy heater that have seen mixed time in my 10x14 kodiak flexbow. I suck at keeping the wood stove humming at the right temp and not smoking us out and dread the burden of finding/cutting good dry wood. I also typically end up leaving propane heaters on through the night when I go propane which is not ideal. I can sleep fine without any heat at night but it’s a lot happier in the morning when my clothes/boots/water are not frozen.

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Do you run into any issues at altitude with those buddy heaters? I’ve been thinking about adopting your set up but heard that the buddy heaters may have issues at altitude.

My base camps are typically in the 7-8K ft range and I haven't had any issues running the buddy heater. I've camped with temps at night dipping to -20 and the big buddy heater was enough to keep the tent warm. I think for quality of tent, durability in extreme weather, and ease of setup, the Kodiak flexbow is hard to beat. I hunt solo about half the time and can have the tent up in 10 minutes or less. Take down is also a breeze, which is an important consideration if you find no elk in your area and you need to move camp elsewhere. On the other hand, having to relocate with a wall tent would be a time consuming enormous hassle probably wasting a full day, especially if solo.

 

[Cornbread]

I got an Alaskan guide, works good with a Mr buddy heater. I did the 4 person size, if anything I'd look into different stakes for it. I bent 3 of them.

Go to Home Depot and buy 12 or 14" gutter spikes.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I think the highest i've used the buddy heater was around 8k' and had no issues.

Compared to a wall tent, the kodiak flexbow just seemed quicker/easier to setup while solo and was also cheaper so it was an easy choice for me.

 

[Cornbread]

I struggled with these same issues that people have mentioned. I decided to buy an ALuxe tent with a stove jack if I eventually need to buy a wood stove. Instead, I also decided to buy a 10-lb propane tank for the Little Buddy Heater if I have to go in a ways, but also have several 20-lb tanks. I also bought a Crua CruxMax Insulated tent insert to go inside the Aluxe tent, 3-man but realistically a 2-man. I certainly don't want to be dealing with cutting and collecting wood, a huge pain in the ass. Flick on the propane heater and ya got it. Going to order a good sleeping bag, pad and liner for the sleep.

 

[Western Traveler1]

This is very helpful information. I am also planning to buy a Davis tent for the 2022 season and I usually hunt solo. Camping next to the truck, my concern is setting up the tent by myself. Traditional poles or internal frame? Solo setup 10 by 12 vs 12 by 14? Your thoughts?

I am old. I have both. I use their external pole setup when solo. Lengthen the eye bolts they supply out to 6” for the top and make pads with a small bolt protruding for the bottom of the poles. Frozen guy ropes are hard to tighten. High winds will pound the poles into the frozen ground and then the eye bolts come loose from the top causing the poles to drop. Ask me how I know.
Also internal pole setup is bulky! A LOT compared to the external kit they sell.
The bigger the firebox the less tending it needs. Davis stoves come with a coal grate. We use stove coal to keep things going.
This is important! Alway give your partner plenty of liquids to drink before bed if you are fortunate to have one with you on the hunt.

 

[SPDSpappy]

If this is really your first time doing this, rent a canvas wall tent w/ wood burning stove from Outdoors Geek there in Denver. They're easy to work with and very friendly. We ended up renting a 2nd wall tent this year b/c of the number of guys in our hunting party w/ all our stuff wasn't all going to fit in the wall tent one of my buddies owns. I agree about how nice it is to have a warm place to eat and dry out all your stuff in the evenings and having it be warmer at night. Every time I've hunted in CO DIY (4 times), it's been in the single digits and the wood burning stove is MONEY!!!

 

[Todd10]

Do you run into any issues at altitude with those buddy heaters? I’ve been thinking about adopting your set up but heard that the buddy heaters may have issues at altitude.

We used our buddy heaters at 11,000 feet this past fall with no issues.

 

[Farmerj]

Davis wall tent with a gravity fed pellet stove.

Went looking for information on gravity deep pellet stoves and they talk about not using them over 8000’ due to lack of oxygen…


How much have you seen this as an issue?

NON ELECTRIC PELLET STOVES

Non electric pellet stoves are used in canvas tents. I strongly recommend you read the tent stove information guide which explains non electric pellet stove features and options. If you also want to view our wood stoves click tent stoves. Riley has been the industry leader in making non...

canvastentshop.ca

 

[lifesupport4u]

I have had no problems staying warm to 0F in my heavy sleeping bag… it’s getting up and moving and out of a warm bag at those temps that is a little rough.

We have used a few different things- guys set alarms every 2.5 hours and alternate so each person gets up once to load the stove, also have used a propane heater in the morning, and we have found butane pipe sweating torches work pretty well (@8000 ft) to quickly get the cylinder stove going and we sometimes we just alternate who gets up early to get the stove going so the same person doesn’t have to do it every morning.

There are a lot of ways to handle it.

 

[JohnBud]

I am old. I have both. I use their external pole setup when solo. Lengthen the eye bolts they supply out to 6” for the top and make pads with a small bolt protruding for the bottom of the poles. Frozen guy ropes are hard to tighten. High winds will pound the poles into the frozen ground and then the eye bolts come loose from the top causing the poles to drop. Ask me how I know.
Also internal pole setup is bulky! A LOT compared to the external kit they sell.
The bigger the firebox the less tending it needs. Davis stoves come with a coal grate. We use stove coal to keep things going.
This is important! Alway give your partner plenty of liquids to drink before bed if you are fortunate to have one with you on the hunt.

Thanks for sharing your insights. Much appreciated! Looks like I'll go with the external poles and upgrade to a larger stove. Serving plenty of beverages to your hunting partner in the evening is truly a "pro tip". Good stuff.

 

[Western Traveler1]

Thanks for sharing your insights. Much appreciated! Looks like I'll go with the external poles and upgrade to a larger stove. Serving plenty of beverages to your hunting partner in the evening is truly a "pro tip". Good stuff.

My Davis tent is 14X16. I have the rain fly and floor (rather a hot cinder burn a hole in the rain fly than canvas). The extra room is nice for a dining table, hanging clothes to dry, keeping a jug of water inside if freezing weather outside etc. We have had inside temp 100 degrees F at the ridge pole while 10 outside. Oops..
Make a pvc pole with a nail in the end long enough to reach the spark arrester on the stove pipe. Creosote buildup will cause stove to stop drafting after a few days. We use a propane torch to light the fire. The one with a trigger.

 

[PAGOAT]

Went looking for information on gravity deep pellet stoves and they talk about not using them over 8000’ due to lack of oxygen…


How much have you seen this as an issue?

NON ELECTRIC PELLET STOVES

Non electric pellet stoves are used in canvas tents. I strongly recommend you read the tent stove information guide which explains non electric pellet stove features and options. If you also want to view our wood stoves click tent stoves. Riley has been the industry leader in making non...

canvastentshop.ca

We haven't used it over 8,000 ft. I've used my buddy heater without issues to 9,300

 

[old roper 42]

Davis is having sale.

Sport Show Specials Archives - Davis Tent

Pick up your Sport Show Special Tent at the Trade Show. Here is a list of venues and show dates for the five sport shows we are exhibiting at this year. Be sure to stop by the booth and say hi! Washington Sportmen’s Show Puyallup, WA state fair events center – 2/2/22 through 2/6/22. Click here...

www.davistent.com

 

[3855WIN]

Kodiak canvas and buddy heater.

 

[BrentD]

I see the Kodiak gets a lot of favorable reviews. But, as I recall, it is a single wall (canvas?) tent. I've been partial to nylon tents with a full fly that reaches the ground. To me it would seem they would be a bit warmer when cold out, or a bit better ventilated when hot or wet. I use an 8-man North Face for many many years. It gets a heck of a lot of use and has required a new fly after the first one finally died of sun-rot, but the $125 was well worth it.

Anyway, is there a tent with a fly that is equally favored? the North Face that I have is no longer made.